The Return
by Kelland
Summary: There's been something missing from Kimiko's life for a long time now, and she's determined to set out and find it. But what if that something had been with her the entire time, and she just never saw it? One-shot, Raikim!


**A/N: This was inspired by the absolutely beautiful song Drops of Jupiter by Train (But it doesn't follow the same story line). This is just a weird one-shot, I'm not so good at expressing these 'emotions' everyone is always talking about. This has been distracting me forever, thanks to my terrible habit of listening to music while writing. I swear I'll get back to my other stuff after this.**

**Anyway, if you're not offended by my two-bit writing, I'd like to dedicate this story to the awesemazing Spadefire, for having awesmazing stories that I can never get enough of! As well as letting me borrow Emma for an upcoming chapter in a different story (Thanks again, if you ever read this!)**

**Oh, and the ****_italics_**** are Kimiko's memories. Enjoy!**

* * *

There was always something about the country that pleased the eyes. Not Clay's version of the country, with its dry, nondescript deserts that sucked the joy—as well as the moisture—from its victims. In her mind, that wasn't what the country looked like. Country was the green, lush, gorgeous landscape peppered with flowers and exhaling with life. Country was the unperturbed wind rustling through the trees, animals roaming freely in a forest of untouched beauty. The countryside of China was like an alternative universe to the untrained eye.

To a city girl, this kind of setting was a refreshing change to the hustle and bustle of the place she had grown up in. Tokyo would still her home town, but at the moment, it was the farthest thing from being home. She had a new home now, and she wanted to go back to it as soon as possible.

_Even at 8 o'clock her eyesight was still hazy from sleep. It had been a restless night, full of half wrapped thoughts and piles of worries. But there was no point on dwelling on it; she had already made up her mind. This was just something she had to do._

_Usually, there would be some kind of morning commotion to jolt her into full consciousness, but her friend's bed—er, mats—were empty. It was odd to think that the boys had gotten up earlier than they had needed to. As Omi had inevitably fallen prey to becoming a teenager, even the most disciplined monk was readjusting his clock; starting with more late nights and less early mornings. Then there was Raimundo and Clay, both a year past adulthood, but still keeping up the habit of trying to scrounge out as many hours possible to sleep. And with Omi on a hormone driven sleeping-in spree, the two older boys often followed suit while their time lasted._

_But even so, there was not a dragon in sight. It was likely they had just run off to training without her. Of course they would be the ones forgetting the significance of today. If you didn't know any better, you'd think their heads were full of pudding._

It was a little surreal, watching it all pass her by as the cab drove down the dirt road. It was a path rarely traveled, and she could feel every bump along the way. The yellow car was probably a sore amongst the natural imagery, the sea of blushing fall colours.

Her somewhat cloudy memories of the warm summertime didn't quite match up with the new fall palate, making her uneasy. In only the month she'd been away, so much had changed. The thought made her worry that maybe more than just the seasons had become different in her absence.

_Training course: empty. Vault: empty. Great hall: empty. And the kitchen? Well, the kitchen was dark… someone had obviously closed the shutters, blocking out attempts for the sun to leak in and light up the room. Why anyone would do that was beyond her…_

_Hand scaling down the wall for the switch—which was probably rusted in place from lack of use—Kimiko instead feels across another warm hand touching the wall. Gasping, she takes a panicked step back, just as the switch is flipped by the mystery intruder. _

_Just when she thinks she's going to have to get into a fight, her cold gaze is met with the lopsided smile and sparkling green eyes of her fellow dragon. Clay and Omi materialize behind him, each with a goofy grin plastered on their face. _

_"Happy birthday, Kimiko!" They all ring out in unison, stepping to the side to reveal the beautifully set breakfast table—it even had a tablecloth. That was a luxury at the temple._

She smiled to herself, wondering how her boys were faring without her. Maybe they were at each other's throats, completely lost and confused without her. There was no doubt in her mind that the bathroom had turned into a warzone, and probably smelled like a manure farm without her to enforce the febreeze and scented candle rules. Maybe they were missing her as much as she was missing them right at this moment.

…Or maybe they were just doing fine without her, she notes. Maybe she'd become just a distant memory that had lost most of its meaning in the time she'd been away. Maybe they'd worked it all out, maybe they had decided that fire was only good for destruction and she wouldn't be needed anymore.

The old Kimiko would have been enraged by the idea, but the one that had matured through her five years as a Xiaolin dragon could only feel sad.

No, don't be ridiculous, they need her as much as she needs them.

_"You guys are so sweet!" She squeaks, quickly recovering from her near-scare. Kimiko finds herself reciprocating their smiles, jumping to hug each one of the boys. Her boys._

_Omi, now fifteen but still as small and as cute as ever. He blushes feverishly just at her touch, just like he had upon his first 'girl hug'._

_Clay, taller, but still just as bulky as the day they had met five years ago. He hugged her back carefully like he always had; scared she would break if he squeezed too hard. Once a gentleman, always a gentleman._

_And Raimundo, well enough was to be said about him. Once only a cocky troublemaker, upgraded big time a little over a year later to be the Shoku warrior. He'd never seemed to have lost that happy glean in his eyes since the day he was promoted, not even after their ongoing battle against evil for the past four years. Today, it seemed to shine twice as bright._

_"Thank you," She says when finally finished with each. "This means so much to me…" And I'm sorry to eat and run, but there's just something I've got to take care of…_

She could still just as clearly remember their expressions after she told them. Shock, anger… loss. She might have gotten a lesser reaction had she been the one to deliver the news of a relative's death. It was like she had betrayed them…

_"I'm sorry, guys!" She pleads, wishing that she hadn't just said what she said, ruining breakfast and killing the occasion with little mercy. She wanted to think she didn't mean it… but the truth was she did, and this wasn't an errand she could put off any longer._

_"Is it… something we did?" Omi asks cautiously, as if maybe his last words were the ones that drove her away. But it wasn't like that._

_"No! It's just… this is something I've got to do for me. I feel like I've lost my way, that's all. I think that maybe there's something out there in the world that I'm missing, and I need to find it."_

_They all gaze at her like she's some kind of alien. Like years of friendship had just been erased from the databanks. They should be happy that she was making a move for herself. But… this was also quite inconsiderate of her._

_"It's not forever, you know." She whispers, wishing they'd understand where she was coming from. "I'll be back some day. I just need to take some time… off."_

_"But why now? Why today?" Clay asks, looking like he wants to relate but couldn't really. Maybe guys just didn't develop on the same level girls did. No, they definitely didn't._

_"Today's my eighteenth birthday," They're backing away, separating their group from her as she speaks. "today I'm an adult, and I'm… free to go."_

But that was the summer. Its fall now… it's all new and unfamiliar to her, but it's fresh. Maybe they'd figured her out by now, and they weren't mad at her.

She remembered the weeks after Raimundo turned back from the Heylin side. They had all acted quite careful around him for that little while; scared he would snap again and go running back to Wuya. You could see how uncomfortable it was for him… would it be the same for her? Would they be scared to really talk to her for fear she would venture off again?

_"My—my ride is out waiting for me." They each go slack jawed, babbled by the thought that she had been planning this. That she'd had these thoughts of having her own adventures for a long time now, and she'd never said a word to any of them._

_Kimiko turns her back to them, no longer prepared for any kind of response. It was just as well that she go now and stop embarrassing herself. She barely made it halfway to the barracks to get her bag when she heard footsteps chasing after her._

_"Kimiko! Wait!" She didn't even have to look to know it was Raimundo. He hadn't said a word the entire time, and it made her worry that he'd have some even harsher things to say. But when she turns around, it's not anger that he sees in his eyes, but a fear that replaced any sign of the happiness that had been there an hour ago. He was… scared._

_"You can't go," He says, walking towards her so that they were only feet apart. _

_"I—I need to… I have to…"_

_"But we need you." He puts a careful hand on her shoulder, which she shrugs off._

_"But there comes a time when I need to put myself first, Rai. What good am I if I don't feel like me anymore?"_

_"I…" He looks like he battling with himself, trying to come to a conclusion about what to say next. "I've wanted to tell you this for a long time... but…" He looked like he was really struggling, and it scared her as well to think whatever he had to say was hard for him. Raimundo always spoke his mind; him being at a loss for words didn't really made sense. "…I don't want to weigh you down. So just, have a nice trip, I guess..."_

_She smiled at him, the tension breaking like a board during training. "Thanks, Rai, I will." But he looked crestfallen, as if she had just slapped him instead of thanked him for his understanding._

"This is as far as I go." The cab door is open, and her pink suitcase is shoved in her lap. Her memories leave her bleary-eyed, and she feels momentarily confused.

"C'mon, get outta my cab. I told you I can't go down that way," The driver grunts, standing next to her open door as he not-so patiently waited for her to exit the vehicle. Complying with his request, she leans out of the seat and steps onto the path—the temple path.

It was just another ordinary fork in the road, that one detour that you couldn't miss seeing but would never drive down. There was nothing special in appearance at all; it wasn't even a road the odd the lost tourist would travel down. Actually, it was more like a trail. And even considering the few that wandered their way every once in a while, it's not like they came across anything special. To most, a temple was just a temple and nothing more.

_"Bye…" She sniffed, waving to her friends as she stepped into the cab. They watched her, trying to smile but it was no use to cover up the tears. Smiles to tears in the matter of hours. She'd only ever seen Raimundo cry once, that time long ago when Omi had been forced to stay with Chase. The same with the dragon of water on the occasion that Raimundo had appeared to have gone to the Heylin side again. She wasn't converting to the side of evil; she'd be back one day. This wasn't a permanent decision… but why did it feel like one to them?_

_And as she watched their forms shrink into the background as she drove away, why did she feel like she was making the wrong decision?_

But now it was the reverse. The cab was driving away… and she wasn't in it. Her friends weren't there waiting for her… but she would see them soon. She was going home.

Her suitcase had wheels, but it really didn't make the return trip any easier. The path was covered in leaves and rocks, all of which were determined to tear the wheels right off her bag. This was her entire 'adventure'… bumps.

All she ever learned was the Europe was expensive and airfare out of Canada was crazy expensive. And she'd seen it all before, on some misadventure during her last five years. Each new experience just made her long for the old. And after all of that, she didn't feel any more fulfilled than she had a month ago.

_"And what's that one?" she asks, pointing at the night's starry sky, simply amazed by the scene above her. Climbing onto the roof had never seemed like a good idea to her. The roof was for blocking rain and snow and whatever else you'd have it block out… but not for sitting on. Then she'd somehow found herself coaxed into following him up with some stupid gimmick. She didn't want to admit it… but it was actually a really nice place._

_"That's the big dipper, Kim, everyone knows that one." Raimundo laughs, nudging her playfully. "Didn't you ever learn about constellations as a kid?"_

_She smacked him back, but her eyes never left the sky. "No… there's just too much light in Tokyo to be able to see any stars. Wish I had known, would have invested in a telescope."_

_"Hm. That's the thing with the city. When I was little I found this ridge outside of town, perfect place to watch the ocean during the day, stars at night." He leans back, lying down on the shingles and putting his hands behind his head. "I could just watch 'em all night."_

_"They're really something." She sighs, following his action and leaning back beside him. It was nice, just getting some one-on-one with her friend. When they were together just the two of them, they could talk about anything and it would be okay. To think that maybe Raimundo had surpassed Keiko on the friendship scale was hard to fathom. The girls had stopped talking a while ago._

_"Just imagine, there's a million other worlds out there. Places no one's ever seen before, an entire untouched universe." _

_She nods, but keeps silent. There really wasn't anything to say._

_"Anything is possible out there. The secrets to anything we've ever dreamed could be out there in space." He continues, sounding like he's getting a little nervous. "The world is full of possibilities; too… we just have to discover them for ourselves…"_

_Possibilities… possibilities… the world is ours to discover… we just need to discover things for ourselves…_

That's what she had thought, anyway. What had he meant, if he wasn't talking about the world? There was nothing to discover, she knew because she had been there not to see it. She wanted to go back just to tell him he was being silly when he'd said that.

She just wished she had known all that he—er, they—meant to her before she had decided to go off on her own. Things might never be the same…

The front gate. It was close, she could see it. The entire temple looked just the same from when she had left it: beautiful, calm, and surprisingly in one piece. Maybe not everything had changed.

She pushes the handle back inside her suitcase, instead going for the alternative top handle. She could definitely carry the bag the rest of the distance, and she didn't want to wait any longer until she was finally back. It would all be worth it when she arrived at the front, every step of her journey.

Hefting the heavy luggage over her shoulder, Kimiko breaks into a run down the path. If she hadn't already used up all of her bad luck, she might have hit a rock and lost her balance. But at the moment, she didn't so much care. Slowing down, she falls into a walk as she finally reaches the entrance.

Her bag slides off her shoulder, a long-awaited smile spreads across her face. Finally. She was home.

"Kimiko? Is that you?" That voice… his voice… looking towards its source, she sets eyes on him for the first time in forever. Her… she didn't even know what to call him anymore. She'd missed him in a way that probably wasn't friendly at all, and now she could only be confused.

He looks just as he did, although not much could have changed about his appearance in a month. The same crooked grin, the same uniform he had been wearing the day she left. Leaning back against the gate's wall, the only thing she noted differently was the book clenched in his hands… (Since when did Raimundo read?)

But when he ran up to her and hugger her, it hardly mattered what he had been doing in his free time. It hardly mattered what she'd been doing, either.

"What are you doing sitting outside?" She asks, surprised to find her own voice cracking a little bit.

Pulling away from their hug, he beamed at her. "It's just become my place to hang out."

"But… what about the roof?"

"That's our place, Kim. And you weren't here." He didn't say it in an accusing way, more like a simple statement. She hadn't been there, so he wouldn't go there without her. Kimiko had never been the emotional type, she wasn't one of those girls who cried during sappy movies or sad music or much at all… but she found herself having to hold back tears.

He had missed her just like she'd missed them. Him. Not just her friend, her best friend, the person who she could always talk to… the person who she never wanted to leave again, no matter what her gut was telling her.

"Was it worth it?" He asks her, rubbing away the water at the corner of her eye. "I mean, you're not going to leave again, right?"

"No…" She sniffs, although she feels like she wants to laugh. "To both questions. It wasn't worth it at all. I went out into the world looking for something to complete me. I knew there was something missing, so I ran in the first direction I saw." She looks at him cautiously, hoping he would understand the message. "You were there the whole time for me, and I just never saw it until now."

"I wanted to tell you before, but—" He interrupts his own sentence by leaning down on her, gently pressing his lips to hers. Kimiko exhales loudly from pure shock, but just as quickly regains herself and throws her arms around his neck.

Pulling away after what felt like only seconds, he smiles at her. "I've wanted to do that for a long time, you know."

At first, Kimiko didn't know how to respond to his statement. Maybe a month ago she would have disagreed, pushed him away for even attempting to kiss her. But now… now she was different. The rest of the world didn't have anything much to offer her anymore. She had everything she'd ever need right there at the temple, with her boys.

And she had this moment and the next with _her_ boy.

"Me too." She whispered, pulling him back in for another hug.


End file.
